Device at the closet chair of an electric closet

ABSTRACT

A ELECTRIC CLOSET HAVING A CLOSET CHAIR WITH A BAG INSERTED IN SAID CLOSET CHAIR FOR COLLECTING FAECES. THE BAG HAS A FLAT BOTTOM AND SIDE WALLS DIVERGING UPWARDLY EXTENDING FROM THE FLAT BOTTOM.

Jan. 12,

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BY s e. DCLI/V w MIM' d i WM Jan. 12, 1971 1 NQRDSTEDT ETAL 3,553,742

DEVICE AT THE CLOSET CHAIR OF AN ELECTRIC CLOSET Filed sept. 2o, 1966 "2 sheets-sheet 2 Hans JoseF i Lars Fol/(e DEL/V United States Patent O Inf. cl. A471( 11/02 U.S. Cl. 4-130 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE An electric closet having a closet chair with a bag inserted in said closet chair for collecting faeces. The bag has a at bottom and side walls diverging upwardly extending from the flat bottom. l

This invention has reference to a device in the closet chair of an electric closet provided with an inset, this inset being shaped as a bag.

It has hitherto been used as such an inset a paper prepared to be resistant to humidity, and this paper was doubled upon itself and glued in such a way that there was formed a bag which has mainly the shape of a cornet with a wide opening and a folded bottom. This bag has turned out to have many drawbacks. Thus, its shape does not correspond to the shape of the closet chair which has a flat bottom. When the faeces fall down into the bag, its side walls have a tendency to loose their contact with the inside of the closet chair, i.e. to rurnple somewhat which ,causes a risk that further faeces and urine will not fall down into the bag but dele the inside of the closet chair. There is further the risk that the glued joint at `the insertion of the bag into the closet chair or at a possible rumpling be broken in which case faeces again will dele the closet chair resulting in an unpleasant odour. When the bag has caught the faeces and is to be dropped down through the lower opening of the closet chair, i.e. the outlet opening, to the combustion chamber of the electric closet, this displacement is rendered dicult in case the bag is somewhat rumpled, because the edges of the side walls of the bag may then hook onto the borders of the outlet opening. i

The purpose of the present invention is to provide an inset bag for the closet chairs of electric closets in which bag the drawbacks recited in they aforegoing have been eliminated. The main feature of the invention is to be seen therein that the inset bag is shaped with aat bottom and side walls widening in upward direction, i.e. in the direction away from said bottom, and has plaits extending in this direction. The surface of the bottom of the inset bag is preferably somewhat smaller than the outlet opening of the closet chair. Due to the fact that the side walls of the inset bag are corrugated or folded (plaited), the bag is very well supported by the inside of the closet chair. This good support is not diminished when faeces fall down into the bag for the reason that the bag is provided with a at bottom.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention the opening border of the bag is provided with a number of outwardly directed flaps which are adapted, so as to retain the bag in use position, to be clamped under the seat of the closet chair. There are then with advantage arranged, on the under side of the seat, cushions of rubber or another suitable material, each one of these Vcushions adapted to clamp one of the flaps of the bag in the use position of the bag. By means of these cushions it Yis ensured that the bag is kept expanded in open position ICC when it is in use. After the use when no more load rests on the seat and thus the pressure of the cushions on the flaps will be only very slight, the bag will as already mentioned be released and drop, with its contents, down through the outlet opening in to the combustion chamber and be incinerated.

The invention will in the following be described more in detail with reference had to the accompanying drawings, this description being intended only to illustrate the invention and it should be understood that the embodiments shown in the drawings are in no way intended to limit the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. l is a plan view of a closet chair of an electric closet with an inset bag according to the invention inserted into the closet chair,

FIG. 2 shows a vertical section on the line II-II in FIG. l,

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of a closet chair in which there is arranged a bag according to the invention provided with outwards directed aps, and

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the device according to FIG. 3.

As obvious from FIG. l the inset bag 1 according to the invention is manufactured from one single piece and provided with a flat bottom 2.. From this bottom the side walls 3 of the bag widen upwards along the inside 5 of the closet chair 4. The side walls 3y of the bag are shaped with corrugations or plaits 6 which extend from the bottom 2 of the bag upwards towards the upper border 7 of the closet chair. By means of these corrugations of the side walls 3 of the bag, the bag easily adapts itself to the inner shape of the closet chair 4.

The bottom -2 of the inset bag 1 rests on a lid 9` arranged under the lower opening or outlet 8- of the closet chair, said lid 9 adapted to be swung to the side at the emptying of the closet chair.

When faeces fall down onto the flat bottom 2 of the inset bag 1, this lid 9 gives a good support for the bag and 8 pressed somewhat together. For the reason that the side walls 3 are corrugated, this pressing together is obtained easily and smoothly. The sliding friction occurring between the sides 3 of the inset bag 1 and the inside 5 of the closet chair'4 at the dropping of the bag through the outlet opening 8i is at a minimum for the reason that only the outer borders 10` of the plaits 6 are in contact with the inside of the closet chair. The dropping of the inset bag is further facilitated in case the diameter of the bottom 2 of the inset bag is somewhat smaller than the diameter of thev outlet opening 8.. Furthermore, there is no risk that the inset bag according to the invention at the insertion into the closet chair 4 or at its use be destroyed for the reason that it is manufactured in one single piece and thus not provided with any glued joints.

Further important advantages with the inset bag according to the invention will be explained in the following. In connection with an electric closet of the actual kind there is practically always arranged a fan device which is adapted to evacuate impure air. At the use of an inset bag of previous constructions, i.e. with smooth side walls, the fan device will have no possibility to suck out impure air before the lid 9 is swung away for allowing the bag to drop with its contents and thus air is allowed to enter from above. At the use of an inset bag according to the invention, there could, however, with advantage be arranged an annular chamber 11 about the lower end of the closet chair as indicated in FIG. 2 with broken lines. It is thereby rendered possible for the impure air in the closet chair 4 to be sucked out through the channels 12 formed between the plaits `6 and the inside 5 of the closet chair and out of this annular chamber as indicated by means of the arrows in FIG. 2. Thus, the bag according to the invention involves also the important advantage that the unit as a whole will be more hygienic.

For storing inset bags according to the invention in the lavatory it is suitable to use a tube or a holder formed of wire in which device the inset bags can be piled in one another so that they will require very small space,

In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 the bag 1 is at its upper border 13 provided with an arbitrary number (four shown on the drawing) outwards directed (foldable in outwards direction) aps 14 which when the bag is in use position extend in under the seat 15 of the closet chair 4 and are kept clamped between this seat 15 and a ring 16 arranged on the upper border of the closet chair and having a cross section of L-shape. This ring 16 forms so to say a grate at the pressing of -the seat 15 against the flaps 14.

On the underside of the seat 15 there are between the seat and the ring 16 attached cushions 17 of rubber or another suitable elastic material. These cushions are adapted to clamp each their ap 14 against the support, i.e. the ring 16. Hereby practically any risk is eliminated that the flaps 14 could slide out of their clamped position and thus it is ensured that the bag 1 be kept in expanded position during the time it is used. After the use of the closet chair 4 and thus when there does not rest any more a load on the seat 15 and the elastic cushions 17 do no longer exert any pressure against the aps 14 of the bag 1, the bag 1 gets loose by the weight of its contents and drops down through the outlet opening 8.

The elasticity of the cushions 17 can be taken advantage of also for another purpose. Under the seat 15 there may on the upper side of the closet chair 4 be arranged a micro switch 18 with a contact pin 19. This switch 18 is inserted in the electric circuit to the drive motor of a fan (not shown in the drawing) serving for evacuating the fetid gases in and about the closet chair. As long as the seat 15 is not under load, the switch is broken. However, when a person seats himself on the closet chair 4, the body weight of the person causes the elastic cushions 17 to be compressed. Simultaneously, the contact pin 19 is pressed down and connects the current to the drive motor of the fan, For the reason that the fan starts at the beginning of the use of the electric closet, there is never any task that fetid gases could migrate to the room where the closet is used.

As soon as the person sitting on the closet chair gets up and thus the load ceases, the cushions 17 lift, by means of their resiliency, the seat 15 to such an extent that the switch cuts olf and the drive motor of the fan stops.

For assisting in this rebounding or lifting of the seat 15 there may under the seat 15 be arranged any conventional springing means, a number of at springs or as shown in the drawings two helical springs 20.

The invention has been described in the aforegoing for purposes of illustration only and is not intended to be restricted by this description or otherwise except as dened in the appended claims. Thus, the number of flaps does not have to be four as shown in the drawings but could be chosen arbitrariiy.` Further, Vthe a'ps 14 could be shaped with a greater width than the cushions 17 and these cushions 17 could be shaped with greater width than the aps.

The bags are with advantage formed of paper coated with synthetic resin but also pure synthetic resin with a low surface friction as well as other materials may be used as base material for their manufacture.

What we claim is:

1. In an electric closet the combination comprising a closet chair having a pivoted seat, said chair having an opening at the top and an outlet at the bottom, a bag inserted into said closet chair for collecting faeces, said bag having an opening at the top and a Hat bottom of smaller area than said outlet and side walls diverging from said bottom in upward direction towardy said bag opening with plaits extending from said flat bottom upwardly, means for holding said bag in said chair in its used position, said side walls being flexibly in contact with said chair by said plaits so that said bag after use may be discharged downwardly through said outlet.

2. In an electric closet as claimed in clairn 1 wherein said means includes a plurality of outwardly directed aps on the edge of said opening in said bag positioned under said seat of said closet chair retaining said bag in its use position.

3. In an electric closet as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means includes a plurality of outwardly directed flaps on the edge of said opening in said bag positioned under the seat of said closet chair to retain said bag in its use position, a plurality of cushions of a resilient material arranged on the under side of said seat, a support located on said chair adjacent the inner periphery of said opening at the top of said chair, each one of said cushions being adapted to keep one of said flaps of said bag clamped against said support in the use position of said bag.

4. In an electric closet as claimed in claim 3 wherein said support comprises a ring arranged at said opening of said closet chair,

5. In an electric closet as claimed in claim 3 wherein a contact pin of a micro switch is located under said seat and said seat when under load and at the compression against said support of said cushions resulting from said load, presses in said contact pin of a micro switch for closing an electric circuit.

6. In an electric closet as claimed in claim 5 wherein spring means are arranged under said seat adapted when said load ceases, in combination with the resiliency of said cushions to lift said seat so that said contact pin may rise to break said circuit.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,230,413 6/1917 Kinch 4 142x 1,510,061 9/1924 Jones 4 138 1,978,871 10/1934 Thuren 4 -142 2,801,426 8/1957 La Goree et a1. 4 142 3,405,409 10/1968 Bennett 4 -142 FOREIGN PATENTS 373,154 12/1963 switzerland 4 137 JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner G. H. KRIZMANICH, Assistant Examiner 

